I complain a lot, I rant a lot but I never – not for one second – forget that all my problems are classic “white girl first world problems.” I also never forget that that on my worst day, there are a billion people who would LOVE to change places with me. I like to keep this blog simple, so you know that if I’ve deviated from the norm, I think it’s important. And this is important.

There has been a lot of talk lately about charity contributions, blogger involvement in them, visits to third world countries, and the term ‘poverty tourism’ . If you’re not up on the latest drama, don’t bother. It goes without saying that when drama erupts over someone trying to help, it can make other people shy away from lending a hand. That is the one thing we should never do. We may differ on how we think a person or organization should help, but we should never forget that as humans we should always do just that – ‘help.’

To that end, I am joining in a project to bring a little hope to some girls who really need it. The project is called ‘Heart for Art’.  We will supporting a project called Foundation 18. A little bit more about Foundation 18;

Foundation 18: Is the group home where the kids live in Indonesia. Foundation 18 has 9 girls in the group home aged 3 – 13 and 24 more children in the education outreach program. They take a family into the program so if there are 3 kids, 2 school aged and one toddler, they provide for all of them. Foundation 18 pays for the cost of their education, gives them clothing and a monthly staple food donation (usually 10kg of rice, sugar, eggs, milk powder, formula for babies, water, oil etc). These children still live with a family member, usually an uncle or grandparent, but still get the benefits of the program. There’s a long culture in Bali of sending children to orphanages when there are living parents simply because the parents can’t afford to keep them. Foundation 18 refuses to take children who have families, if their home is safe.

Good news, we are not asking for money. Although, we certainly won’t turn it down. We are doing something a little different.

ME, you and I, are Heart For Art. We are starting an art exchange program with these girls. They don’t speak English so sending them letters wouldn’t be very useful. We will show them that people care, that the world is bigger than what they see right now, that there are many people they’ve never met who are cheering them on in their journey to become strong young women. We send them drawings from us, our children, or anyone that wants to be involved. We send them images from our world, our hearts and they send us what the world looks like to them. Making their world bigger and the big, bad world smaller, all at the same time. This is a great project for people who don’t have disposable income to give to still have a way to make a difference in these girls’ lives. There are still traditional means of donation and contribution which are very welcome and described below.

Here’s how to get involved..

To get involved with Heart For Art just make a piece of art for the girls. Send it to the address below, and Lerner will get it to the girls in Bali. That’s it. I think it’s pretty cool.  If you do make a piece of art please send it to; Lerner Farrington, Attn: Heart For Art, 18 Suffolk Rd, Lincoln, LN1 2UG, UK. Please attach a note letting them you heard of the project from this blog.

But if you’d like to throw cash at us, by all means we can do it that way. Here are several ways you can help in a monetary manner;

• Web Hosting Services: Wanna self-host, want discounted rates and know that the cash from your hosting service will go to an amazing cause? http://www.project18.org.au/blog-hosting/
•  Make a purchase from the Project 18 Inc. shop or Etsy shop.
• Buy a ‘brick’ of Fairtrade chocolate and help P18 build a ‘chocolate classroom’.
• Make a one off, or regular monthly contribution directly to Foundation 18, Indonesia
• Participate in Auctions for Education – pick up a bargain and know the money is going to Educate kids.

Still don’t feel like it? How about some more painless ways to show support?

• Grab a banner or button from the Project 18 website (or grab the code below) and add it to your blog or website.
• Follow Project 18 Inc  on Twitter and on Facebook

If you have any questions about this project, please email HeartForArt18@gmail.com.

Show your support and grab your button here;